bike sizing
 

I was fitted for a road bike (specialized sequoia) yesterday. The man at the
shop told me a 54cm was right for me (he was the same height as me) , the
56cm felt stretched out. He told me it's a compact frame. Is this going to
be my size if I was to buy a used bike off ebay and does a compact frame
make a difference for the sizing ? I am 5' 11" .

Thanks

Chris C wrote:

I was fitted for a road bike (specialized
sequoia) yesterday. The man at the
shop told me a 54cm was right for me (he
was the same height as me) , the
56cm felt stretched out. He told me it's a
compact frame. Is this going to
be my size if I was to buy a used bike off
ebay and does a compact frame
make a difference for the sizing ? I am 5' 11" .

If this is your first road bike you may feel stretched out at first.
Buy there's much more to fit than a "frame size." For one thing two
different "54 cm" bikes may be VERY different. Your height is only part
of the story. More important are leg length, arm length, and torso
length. Not to mention your flexibility and type of riding. If it
doesn't feel right to you, something's probably wrong. To some extent,
fit can be accomplished by chainging the stem height and reach.

See:
http://sheldonbrown.com/frame-sizing.html

If you're not sure that a 54cm bike feels right in person, I certainly
wouldn't recommend you buy one on eBay!

Art Harris

It's hard to say without detailed measurements but 54cm sounds a bit
small given your height. My girlfriend's 5' 10" with 34" legs and feels
tight on a 56cm top tube and a 90mm stem. She did feel streched out at
first but that's a temporary thing. I'm 5'8" with 32" legs and find a
54cm top tube with a 110mm stem just about right. Everyone's different
though so for the first bike either buy something REAL cheap so you can
sell or toss it if it doesn't fit or get an actual fit- not just some
dude's guess.

On Fri, 01 Apr 2005 17:02:53 GMT, chris c wrote:

I was fitted for a road bike (specialized sequoia) yesterday. The man at the
shop told me a 54cm was right for me (he was the same height as me) , the
56cm felt stretched out. He told me it's a compact frame. Is this going to
be my size if I was to buy a used bike off ebay and does a compact frame
make a difference for the sizing ? I am 5' 11" .

Unless the bike on ebay has exactly the same frame as one you've
been fitted to (you can always buy a cheap stem of the same length),
don't touch it.

Besides, if you're going to put a shop to that trouble, you ought to
buy the bike from them if you like it. Be nice.

--
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